Watching Over You
by Simply Ridiculous
Summary: It's an unspoken fact between the trio that after pulling Dean out of hell, Cas had often found himself visiting Dean at night to quell his nightmares. One shot of the early stages of Destiel.


** I wanted to write a one shot of this for a while now after reading some headcanon on tumblr about Sam waking up to see Cas secretly help Dean with his nightmares. Unfortunately I don't know who originally came up with this headcanon and have been unable to find it again since. So I'll have to settle with a disclaimer saying I don't own Supernatural and I don't own the idea for this story. (If anyone does know where this headcanon came from feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to give out rightful credit). That is all. Enjoy :)**

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"_**Angels are watching over you"**_

Somehow Cas seemed to always end up back here. He was lying down, on what he now thought as his side of the bed, one arm wrapped around a sleeping Dean, whispering words of enochian to sooth him. It now seemed to be a nightly occurrence to appear in whatever grim hotel the Winchesters were staying in and quell Deans nightmares. Not that the man in question knew this

…

It had all started a week ago. Cas had suddenly been struck with a strange urge to check up on the Winchesters. It didn't take him long to find them; spending the night in another run down motel off the highway. No doubt resting before tracking down a new lead.

Cas wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but Dean shirtless in bed, crashing around and whimpering in his sleep wasn't it.

His first thought was that Dean was under attack by some unseen demon, but Cas knew that if that had been the case he would have immediately sensed another presence in the room. It was just them.

After processing what the situation was he decided the best course of action was to make sense of the nonsensical mutterings coming from Dean. Now, while his human interaction may be rusty, eventually he realised that Dean must be having a nightmare about his time spent in hell. That was understandably upsetting.

Cas had a moment of pride over the fact he had worked out what was wrong with the human, which was soon overtaken with something he could only describe akin to panic over what to do. He was rather confused by the situation, yet seeing Dean so visibly unsettled made him uncomfortable. While he hadn't known exactly why he had felt so drawn to come – perhaps it was a reaction to the bond he and Dean share – but he figured that as long as he was there he may as well try to help.

Weighing up his options, Cas had decided that the best course of action would be to wake Dean up or somehow try and comfort him in his sleep. Waking him up seemed the easier of the choices, but Cas was aware that Dean didn't get as much rest as human should and was also reluctant to let Dean know that he had been watching him sleep again. That hadn't gone down well last time.

Therefore Cas was left with the option of comfort. It wasn't his strong point, but for Dean he would try. Awkwardly, Cas had shuffled closer to the stained bed and reached out to pat Dean on the head – something he had observed parents walking down streets would do to reassure or comfort their child.

At first his actions seemed to have no affect at all on the panicking man, but after a few moments Dean was unknowingly leaning into his palm, seeking comfort. Something he would never do when conscious, Cas had noted. Growing more confident with himself, Cas moved in even closer and his hand slowed down into more of a stroking gesture. Without fully realising, he had started to murmur quietly in enochian.

Dean may have had no understanding of what Cas was saying, it visually calmed him down. Seeing that Dean was now peaceful, Cas had decided to take his leave before noticing that Dean had rolled over and was subconsciously clutching onto his trench coat as if it was a lifeline. Physically Dean's grasp would have done nothing to stop him from leaving, but looking down at the man he couldn't bear to leave. Instead, Cas had spent the next four hours standing in the same position, just letting Dean take the comfort he needed, before sensing him beginning to stir and disappearing.

For the next to nights the same thing happened. Cas became more in tune to Dean's distressing nightmares and would slip away from his brothers to track Dean down and chase away the nightmares. He was much more comfortable with his actions now, and had even ended up taking a easier position lying on the bed with Dean, allowing the man to rest against him as if he was another pillow. It had seemed odd at first, and Cas had originally just lay stiff on his back, unmoving. But seeing Dean so relaxed and peaceful at his side soon caused Cas to relax with him.

Perhaps this is what led to him being caught in the act by Sam. The next night, Cas had come down to help Dean once again and had readily moved to curl up next to him on the bed, humming lines of

enochian to sooth his nightmares. This quite time away from both demons and angels led Cas to let down his guard.

His eyes had been scanning over the different cracks running through the ceiling when one particularly long crack caused him to tilt his head slightly to the left. That's when he had finally noticed Sam, wide awake and staring at him in interest.

The hum of enochian fell dead on his lips as Cas just sat there like a deer in headlights, unsure how to explain the situation without facing the wrath of a protective Winchester brother.

Instead of yelling or fierce questioning, Sam did something unexpected. He smiled at Cas – a knowing smile – and rolled over to face the wall. Maybe he understood what Cas was doing. Maybe flashbacks of hell had been haunting Dean's sleep longer than he had thought.

Still, Cas had been unable to relax again until he was certain Sam had gone back to sleep.

The day after had been rather uncomfortable when Dean had called Cas down to help them on a case. Neither Cas or Sam could look each other in the eyes properly, both silently agreeing that Cas helping Dean out at night was both privet and personal. Dean had been irritated throughout the hunt, knowing that something was up, but not being able to work out what.

Throughout the day, Cas had an inner debate on whether or not to admit what he had been doing the past few nights. He couldn't get the words out, though, in fear that Dean would be angry at him and ban him from helping him. Cas was actually enjoying his new night time routine. A selfish reason.

He felt even more selfish when, during the hunt, his odd behaviour in result of an inner monologue caused Dean to get distracted and hurt. After quickly helping Sam slay the demon who dared injure Dean, he made his way to the bleeding man and healed him before flying off, surrounded by guilt.

That night he hadn't planned on going back again, but when he felt Dean subconsciously calling out for him again he couldn't resist. He didn't want to fail the man again.

A few nights later Dean had a particularly bad nightmare, and Cas had been delayed. When he finally managed to get there, Dean was thrashing around worse than ever before. Cas rushed without thinking to the man's side, moving onto the bed, holding him still whilst sending waves of reassurance throughout his body.

Dean jerked awake at the sudden difference. Cas lay helplessly next to him on the bed, watching a range of emotions play out in Dean's eyes. He could only name a few. Confusion, anger, embarrassment and then understanding. With a yawn, Dean lay down right next to the angel who had been watching over him, unable to will him to come closer or go away, unsure which he wanted.

From then on it became a natural thing to show up when the boys fell asleep. Sometimes he could sense that Sam was half awake listening to his rhythmic word of enochian, taking what comfort there was from the unknown words. None of them ever spoke of it.

Cas knew he couldn't protect Dean from all the pain that came with being a hunter, but he could save him from the demons of his dreams.

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** Hope you liked it, leave a review to let me know. Best of luck to all who are doing/done exams. This story was definitely a quick bit of procrastination from revision (ssshh)**


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